I am a long-time pic-a-pix solver and Conceptis user. I would like to design my own Pic-a-Pix puzzles, both for the challenge, and maybe to have them published by Conceptis. Can someone give me advice on how to get started? What are some good software programs for designing these puzzles? Where could I find guidance?

A good software application is essential for creating PAP. The puzzles are actually quite easy to create—unless you want6 a puzzle with exactly one solution. Some have no solutions and some have multiple solutions. I've tried doing it "by hand" and got nowhere.

You can find some free puzzle-creation tools on the web, which can get you started. Once you have a feel for how to make a puzzle solvable (being an experienced PAP solver helps!) and what subject matter makes interesting puzzles, perhaps you might be able to take puzzle design to the next level. If that's your goal, then make sure you're familiar with the other picture logic puzzle types here. On competitors' sites you'll find a lot of inferior puzzles that are a bore to solve. That's what caused me to completely forgo the free sites.

If your goal is to become a Conceptis puzzle creator, pay attention to what makes an interesting or funny picture: facial expressions, background details, etc. I like to try to design puzzles that contain a story. For example, PAP ID 00190100080, published Oct. 8, 2010, shows the subject matter doing something amusing, not just sitting there. (I don't want to give spoilers, but it is a fun puzzle, worth buying if you haven't already.) For another example, FAP ID 03190100356, published Oct. 22, 2010, has an unexpected creative twist. (I can't take credit for either of these, btw.) More information including examples are here: http://www.conceptispuzzles.com/index.aspx?uri=info/doc/317

Thank you for the suggestion. Griddlers.com seems like a collection of other websites (a search engine), and I'm having trouble finding a website or software which would help me design a pic-a-pix. Could you be more specific?

It takes a vivid imagination to create a Pic-a-Pix puzzle but one also needs the know-how and there are several sites that help. Of course a good software application is also very essential for this purpose. If you have any good pictures, photos etc these can be imported and used to make the puzzle through the built-in Puzzle Editor that some sites have. What a thrill to have created one’s own puzzle and see others solving it!